FOLKWAYS RECORDS FS 3523

Side One

1) The Foxhunter's Reel (Tom Byrne· flute, Tom McCaffrey· fiddle, Jimmy Noonan· flute, Mike Brennan· whistle)

2) The Greenfields of Rossbae (Reel; Jimmy, Mike Frances· whistles)

3) The Pullet (Jig; Tom Byrne· flute, Tom McCaffrey· Fiddle) 4) The Morningstar (Reel; Tom Byrne· flute) 5) The lark in the Morning (Jig; Tom Byrne, Jimmy

Noonan· flutes, Tom McCaffrey, Frances Quinn· fiddles, Mike Brennan· bodhran)

6) The Crosses of Annagh (Reel; Tom McCaffrey· fiddle) 7) The Cook in the Kitchen (Jig; Tom Byrne, Jimmy

Noonan· flutes, Mike Brennan· bodhran)

Side Two

1) The Tune That Came Out (Song/Reel; Tom McCaffrey· vocal and fiddle, Tom Byrne· flute)

2) O'Caliahan's (Hornpipe; Jimmy Noonan· flute) 3) Buckley's Fancy (Reel; Frances Quinn, Jimmy

Noonan· whistles, Mike Brennan· bodhran) 4) Lord Mayo (March; Tom Byrne· flute, Tom McCaffrey·

fiddle) 5) Saddle the Pony (Jig; Tom McCaffrey, Frances

Quinn· fiddles) 6) Slides: Tidy Gurline/Castle Glantine (Tom Byrne· flute,

Jimmy Noonan, Frances Quinn· whistles, Mike Brennan· bodhran)

7) Maggie in the Woods (Polka; Jimmy Noonan· flute) 8) The Shannon Breeze (Reel; Tom Byrne· flute, Tom

McCaffrey, Frances Quinn· fiddles, Jimmy Noonan, Mike Brennan· whistles)

®©1980 FOLKWAYS RECORDS & SERVICE CORP. 43 W. 61st ST., N.Y.C., 10023 N.Y., U.S.A.

IRISH MUSIC FROM CLEVELAND Volume III: The Continuing Tradition DESCRIPTIVE NOTES ARE INSIDE POCKET

FOLKWAYS RECORDS FS 3523

FOLKWAYS RECORDS Album No. FS 3523 © 1980 by Folkways Records &< Service Corp., 43 W . 61st St. , NYC, USA 10023

Irish Music from Cleveland Volume III: The Continuing Tradition

with Tom Byrne, Tom McCaffrey, Jimmy Noonan, Frances Quinn and Mike Brennan

Produced and Annota.ted by Richard Carlin

Side One

1) The Foxhunter's Reel (Tom Byrne - flute, Tom McCaffrey - fiddle, Jimmy Noonan - flute, Mike Brennan - whistle)

2) The Greenfields of Rossbae (Reel; Jimmy, Mike Frances - whistles)

3) The Pullet (Jig; Tom Byrne - flute, Tom McCaffrey - fiddle)

4) The Morningstar (Reel; Tom Byrne - flute)

" 5) The Lark in the Morning (Jig; Tom Byrne, Jimmy Noonan - flutes, Tom McCaffrey, Frances Quinn - fiddles, Mike Brennan - bodhran)

6) ' The Crosses of Annagh (Reel; Tom McCaffrey - fiddle)

7) The Cook in the Kitchen (Jig; Tom Byrne, Jimmy Noonan - flutes, Mike Brennan (bodhran)

Side .Two

1) The Tune That Came Out (Song/Reel; Tom McCaffrey - vocal and fiddle, Tom Byrne - flute)

2) O'Callahan's (Hornpipe; Jimmy Noonan - flute)

3) Buckley's Fancy (Reel; Frances Quinn, Jimmy Noonan - whistles, Mike Brennan - bodhran)

4) Lord Mayo (March; Tom Byrne - flute, Tom McCaffrey - fiddle)

5) Saddle the Pony (Jig; Tom McCaffrey, Frances Quinn fiddles)

, 6) Slides: Tidy Gurline/Castle Glantine (Tom Byrne - flute, Jimmy Noonan, Frances Quinn - whistles, Mike Brennan - bodhran)

7) Maggie in the Woods (polka; Jimmy Noonan - flute)

• 8) The Shannon Breeze (Reel; Tom Byrne - flute, Tom McCaffrey, Frances Quinn - fiddles, Jimmy Noonan, Mike Brennan - whistles)

Recorded in November, 1979 in Oberlin, Ohio.

Recording Credits:

Tom Morrissey - Head Engineer Jim Freeman - Assistant Engineer Don Cowan - Assistant Engineer Tom Bethel - Audio Supervisor

SpeG'.ial Thanks to: Mike Lemmonick, Bob Car lin, Grey Larsen, The Byrne family, Frank Barrett, Paul Prestopino.

Dedicated, in memoriam, to Gus Boland, active member of the Irish dance and music community in Cleveland, and friend to all interested in the Irish arts.

Special Thanks to IDom and Anne Byrne.

Other records in this series:

Irish Music from Cleveland with Tom Byrne and Tom McCaffrey (flute and fiddle duets) FS 3517

Volume II: The Community Tradition with Tom Byrne, Tom McCaffrey, Frank Barrett, Pat O'Malley, Tom Scott, Johnny Coyne and Frank Keating (flute, fiddle, accordion, and piano) FS 3521

Irish Music from Cleveland Volume Three: The Continuing Tradition

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries when the

first "folklorists" discovered the beauty of traditional

music and song, the almost universal feeling was that

these were the last in a long line of folk musicians

who could be recorded. Soon the traditional music

of the land will be heard no more, and so collectors

strenuously travelled through remote parts of England,

Scotland and Ireland in gearch of this music. At this

time, little attention was given to dance music which

was still so commonplace as to be hardly classed

"ancient" or "folk" at all.

With each new generation of folklorist and folk

performers, new songs have been collected and whole

area of traditional performance have been "discovered"

for the first time. And yet, still the feeling persists

that folk music is dying, that few if any of the younger

generation are interested in perpetuating a traditional

art based on a culture that is being outmoded by

an increasingly industrialized and depersonalized society.

While large ethnic communities have settled in

the inner cities of America, as well as in select pockets

in the countryside, only a few collectors have recognized

the continuing tradition of folk music and folk culture

within these groups. Despite their employment in

"industrial" America, the Irish, the German, the Slavs,

the Jews, the native American Indians, the Blacks,

Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and countless others have

found that their folk cultures have taken on an even

greater meaning in their lifes. Industrial society

has not cast a spell of doom on folk culture, it has,

if anything, intensified it.

The reasons for this are complex, and deserve

greater study. My own feelings are that folk music

is an integral part of the popular culture of any

given community. Music serves a social function, in

the formal dance situation or the less formal family

gathering. It literally '\brings people together" in

the recognition of a common heritage. On this record

you will hear some of the finest older performers of

Irish music from the Cleveland community, joined by

some of the young musicians who hope to master this

style.

2

While the young performers are not as expert

as the old, they show a remarkable sympathy for the

the traditional musical style. This is particularly

remarkable when you consider that these young musicians

are second or third generation Irish in this country,

and hear Irish music only in the confines of a small

community within a large city. Their friends in

school are more likely to enjoy listening to mass-produced

"popular" music than the flute and fiddle music of

their parents and grandparents.

On this record then we hope to present the

"living" tradition of Irish music. Again, as in the

previous two volumes in this series, the performances

are direct, powerful renditions of this music; they

are not "polished" or "finely honed" in the sense

that mass-market music is produced. Our intention

is not to appeal to the .mass-market, but rather to those

who wish to hear the music of one particular community,

as it would be performed on a Friday or Saturday

.night in a small gathering of friends.

A Personal Note

I'll never forget the circumstances in which

this record was made. After a long drive across

Pennsylvania, I arrived in Cleveland on an overcast

and bleak day. Typically, it was some 20 degrees

colder in Cleveland than it had been when I left home

at 5 o'clock that morning. Although I was tired,

I was excited because I knew there would be a musical

get-together at Tom Byrne's home that evening.

The get-together far surpassed my own and

indeed everyone else's expectations. The music

just kept coming, punctuated with stories and songs,

and the wonderful soda breads and tea served by

Mrs. Byrne and her daughters. Frank Barrett (heard on

Irish Music From Cleveland Vol. 2 - FS 3521) was

in particularly fine form that night, and it was

unfortunate that he could not make the recording

session the next day.

We played together well into the small hours

of the night and the next day at noon sought to recreate

some of the excitement and magic '!of the previous session.

Naturally, we were all tired, but I must say that

within the confines of a "studio" situation, Tom Byrne,

Tom McCaffrey and the boys performed remarkably well.

Tom McCaffrey is a wonderful fiddler, singer and story

teller from the Leitrim area of Ireland

Tom is well loved in Cleveland's Irish community for

his special brand of humor and he is often the "life

of the party" whether it be musical or purely so~ial.

On this record, he made up special words on the spot

to the song "The Tune That Came Out" to commemorate our

musical session the night before at the Byrne residence.

Listen also for his fiddle solo, "The Crosses of Annagh"

and his duet with Frances Quinn.

Tom Byrne is a flute player

straight out of the Sligo tradition. His style includes

both the melodic flowing legato passages and the short

almost fife-like intonation of many players of that

region. Indeed, it is a style that reflects his special

warmth and love of Irish music. Tom is not only a

fine flute player, but something of a singer and a

bit of a dancer (you'll often hear his foot tapping

3

on t his record). Listen for his solo spots, "The Morningstar,"

C:nd on "The Tune That Came Out."

Both Tom and Tom can be heard on the two previous volumes

of IRISH MUSIC FROM CLEVELAND, FS 3517 and FS 3521.

The three younger performers on this record each

are quickly becoming talented performers of Irish

music.

Jimmy Noonan plays both flute and

whistle and has started a school of flute playing

in Cleveland. Until last year, he competed

nationwide as an Irish dancer and won many awards

and trophies. Jimmy's flute playing owes much

to the instruction of Tom Byrne, but he is quickly

developing a style of his own and promises to be

one of the best flute players of the coming generation.

Mike Brennan is also an accomplished musician

and dancer. Playing whistle and bodhran (Irish drum)

on this record, he has since begun playing the banjo

and plans to take up the bagpipes.

Frances Quinn is a fine fiddler and dancer,

also the winner of many trophies and medals for

his dancing skills. All three musicians show an

interest in both the traditional style of music

played at Cleveland dances and parties and also

the more progressive recordings of the Chieftains

and the Bothy Band and others.

The Music

The Shannon Breeze is similar to the tune "Rolling on

the Ryegrass" (O'Neill's 1001 '766) and was recorded

under thi·s name by Dennis Murphy (Claddagh CC5) the

talented fiddler from Kerry. It was recorded in this

country by Pennsylvania folklorist George Korson,

played by an Irish coal miner inside a coal tunnel!

Under the "Shannon Breeze" title it has been recorded

by the Cleveland group, The Emeralds, which features

Tom McCaffrey and Pat O'Malley (cf. Folkways FS 3521).

The Greenfields of Rossbae is an unusual reel that

the boys play here in a whistle trio setting.

The Pullet is a jig that Tom and Tom got from the

popular recordings of Sean Maguire and Roger Sherlock

(on Outlet records) .

The Morningstar reel was learned by Tom from flute player

Jimmy Giblin. It is a popular one, associated with

Paddy Tuohy, the famous Irish vaudeville master of

the uillean pipes who was a close friend of Captain

Frances O'Neill (cf. Shanachie Records 30001; O'Neills #475;

Kennedy, The Fiddler's Tunebook, I, 15)

The Lark in the Morning - There are at least two jigs

that go by this name. One is now more commonly known

as "A Trip to Sligo;" this tune is #240 in O'Neill's

collection and has been recorded by Michael

Gorman with his own variations on Folkways FW 8729.

The version heard here has been recorded by Seamus

Ennis on Olympic Records (formerly Tradition Records)

6129 and on jew's harp by John Wright (Le Chant du Monde

records 74434) .

The Crosses of Annagh is also known as The Longford Spinster.

It has been recorded by Maguire and Sherlock.

The Cook in the Kitchen is a lovely jig and can be

found in O'Neill's 1001, #252.

4

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The Tune that Came O~ is both a song and a reel. The

song was inspired by The Collier's Reel (O'Neill's

646). Tom Byrne explains that in his home area of

Sligo this reel was quite popular, and then became

associated with this comic song about a punctured

set of bagpipes! Tom McCaffrey gives a wonderful

vocal on this with Tom Byrne playing a rolling flute solo

between each verse.

O'Callahan's is one of JiJrnmy's favorite hornpipes.

Buckley's Fancy is #487 in O'Neill's and is a lovely reel~

Lord Mayo is technically a "march" although to my

mind, Tom and Tom give it the feel of a reel. They

got it from the legendary flute player, Seamus Tansey.

The tune is sometimes played as a slow air.

Saddle the Pony is also known as "Red Stocking" (Kennedy,

The Fiddler's Tunebook II, 40) an~ "The Priest's Leap"

(O'Neill #59). An unrelated tune appears in O'Neill's

under the name of "Saddle the Pony" (#18). The duet

playing here by Tom and Frances is particularly lovely.

Slides~ Here are two unusual slides.

Maggie in the Woods is an ever popular polka. Michael

Kennedy recorded it on melodeon on his June Appal

LP (JA 17) and Bernard O'Sullivan on Anglo Concertina

on the Topic/Free Reed Ip 502.

The Foxhunter's a very popular reel, not to be confused

with the slipjig of the same name.

LITHO IN U.S.A. EIIflIIii;o-